History - War at a Glance

Pacific Intrigues Japanese society and culture rapidly adapted to industrialization and world trade following American Commodore Perry's forceful opening of Tokyo Bay to commerce in 1853. By the end of World War I, Japan was the major industrial and military force in Asia. From 1920 to the beginning of World War II, three major factors emerged in the turbulent political life of Japan: allegiance to the emperor, several varieties of National Socialism, and a strong and independent military. As these forces coalesced into a reasonably stable political structure in the late 1930s, Japan's expansionist policies become focused in the "East Asia Greater Prosperity Sphere." The central tenant of this plan was that Japan must control natural resourcesoil, timber, and coalnot available in the Japanese homeland. Therefore, Japan must not only continue occupying Manchuria but also must look to other countries in Asia for room to expand. With the Western powers, especially the United States, increasingly resistant to Japanese expansion, the events that will lead Admiral Yamamoto to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, now begin to unfold. See Next Room for Growth